Congratulations to Glen Innes Bookworld Inc which is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Bookworld is a religious bookstore established in 2005 by a non-denominational committee of Christian churches looking for ways to maintain the influence of Christian teachings in the community, particularly seeking ways to reach young people who were drifting away from church attendance.
Reflecting the shop’s original purpose, the major beneficiaries of Bookworld’s income are children and young people. It helps fund a high school chaplaincy program as well as Special Religious Education classes for children in Kindergarten to Year 6 in Glen Innes and some village schools. Bookworld sells a wide range of Christian books, activity books for children, second-hand books, mugs and drink bottles with positive messages and quotes from the bible as well as stationery, cards and pens.
Not surprisingly, the biggest best seller at Bookworld, accounting for 40% of its sales, are bibles. One of the founding committee members of Bookworld, and a volunteer, since the get-go, is 92 year old Lance Jackson. Talking about the current clientele, Lance said that apart from locals, of course, 20% of the shop’s customers are tourists, numbers which have increased over the years as many other religious bookshops across the region and along the coast have closed with the advent of electronic and online sales.
Lance described how country people from out west, from places like Moree and Narrabri, often drop in to buy books and other materials on their way to the coast for summer holidays. Another growing group of customers are home-schoolers shopping for materials for their children, as well as students of World Religions who come in to buy materials and sometimes stay for a chat too.
Glen Innes Bookworld’s mission extends to sending second hand books to Africa, including bibles to Uganda, and closer to home recently delivered 30 bibles to churches in the Central West of NSW.
Next year Bookworld is planning to present a course of 5 sessions entitled Christianity Explained. The course will be open to anyone who wants to find out: ‘What is Christianity really about?’ It has been designed in response to the number of people who simply want to know more, and who come from a diverse range of religious and non-religious backgrounds. Some may have been church-goers at one time, while others have never attended church or Sunday School. If you are interested in finding out more about the course Christianity Explained, please contact Bookworld.
